myUsearch blog

If you are considering going to college next year, you may have noticed that your inbox and mailbox are a little more full than usual. A bombardment of emails, brochures and even phone calls from colleges might make you wonder: How did these colleges get my name? And, how can I stop them from hassling me? Well to find out, we went straight to the source.

Brad J Ward, Electronic Communication Coordinator for Butler University and the author of Squaredpeg.com - Thoughts on Higher Education Recruitment, was kind enough to grant me an interview. Here is what he had to say.

Photo by Oran Viriyincy

1. How do colleges find students that might be interested in their institution?  Traditionally, colleges and universities purchase names from a testing agency like the ACT or SAT. We would request names of students that fit a certain demographic, major interest, test score range, etc. and then begin to communicate with those students via email or regular mail. The web is quickly becoming the new ‘source’ for students, however.  Many students are now going directly to the schools and requesting information through their website. We have seen a huge increase in students doing this over the past year.  Schools are also being more proactive in finding students through websites such as Facebook, Zinch, and many other college search-specific sites that pair students and colleges together. The traditional word-of-mouth still applies as well.  The majority of students who come to our University say that they heard about it from a friend or family member.
2. Some students feel that if schools have to market to get students, the schools must not be very high quality (i.e: They are desperate for students). Is this true?
   Not at all! Universities and colleges market because they want to have a diverse applicant pool to select students from. I can’t think of a school that we compete with that doesn’t send information out to quality students. If a school limits its target audience to only those who know about the university, they miss out on many great students.  Marketing also provides schools an opportunity to provide students with more information about their school and make sure questions get answered.
3. Many students get frustrated with all of the marketing materials they receive from colleges. Is there any way to reduce this?
   A quick phone call or email to a school you do not want to hear from SHOULD take care of it.  In the case of email, there is a law (CAN-SPAM Act) that states emails must have a 1-click unsubscribe feature on them.  So if my university sends an email and you don’t want future emails, you should only have to click one link at the bottom of the email to remove yourself from the mailing list.    But once you do that, you won’t get put back on the list unless you request it.  We’ve had students unsubscribe and then become admitted students, and they did not receive any of the informational emails all summer. Since they unsubscribed, they missed out on the valuable information we sent via email. 
4. When is it alright for students to give their contact information?
   If the school is reputable and the site looks legit, I think it’s fine to give your contact information to a school.  However, if you are entering more personal information such as a social security number, be sure to look for the ‘padlock’ at the bottom of your browser.  If the site is unsecure, you might want to call the school to give them your information, and also take the time to tell them why you are calling in so they will hopefully fix their site. 
5. Are there any times in which students should refuse to give their contact information?
   I haven’t really seen or heard of situations where a student was compromised from giving information directly to a school, except for extreme instances of hacking.  3rd party websites can be a different story, however.  Before you start giving your information out in hopes of getting scholarships or information from schools, take the time to make sure the site is legit.  A quick Google search will tell you a lot about a site.  If the site is very small and there aren’t a lot of pages, that might be another sign they are just phishing for student data, emails, etc.  No contact information or phone # can also be a dead giveaway.  You can never be too careful on the internet.  The saying ‘If it sounds too good to be true, it is’ is amplified even more on the internet.  There are a lot of false promises out there!
6. Are there any types of websites that students should avoid? Why?
   Again, any site that seems like it’s offering something too good to be true should be avoided. Take your time and do your research, you won’t regret it.  Starting with a government agency such as http://www.students.gov can help you weed out some of the sites that aren’t legit. Never be afraid to ask your college counselor either.  They definitely have great resources if you just ask for them!  
7. With regards to college marketing, do you have any other advice for students searching for the right college?
   Get yourself out there, and make sure your personal information online is what you would want a college to see.  While we don’t actively search for students during the recruitment process, anything you put online is visible.  Think before you post something…. If you wouldn’t show it to your grandparents or parents, do you really want to put it online? Personal branding is going to be big with the upcoming generation.. how do you want to portray yourself to a future college or job? The internet is like a scrapbook that you can’t rip pages out of, so be sensible.

Thanks Brad. These are some great tips. You can also check out some of my tips on how to avoid college spam by reading this post. And, if you’re interested in finding the right school for you, but want to limit the number of colleges that contact you, complete the myUsearch college matching questionnaire (Shameless plug, I know). We only allow the colleges that objectively match with you to contact you and we give you the ability to prevent any of your matching colleges from seeing your information.

Happy College Searching!